The invention relates to an oscillator to be used as a reference frequency source of mobile communication equipments such as portable telephones.
Generally, oscillators of this type have such structure that an oscillating element and an active element therefor are accommodated in a single container.
Such an oscillator having both the active element and the oscillating element accommodated in a single container addresses the problem that organic substances emitted from a resin-containing adhesive used for fixing the active element deposit on the oscillating element to thereby deteriorate the oscillation characteristics of the oscillating element.
To overcome this problem, the following technique has recently been proposed. The inside of a container having openings on both ends thereof is partitioned into two chambers, and the oscillating element is accommodated in one of the chambers and the active element in the other, so that deposition of organic substances emitted from the resin-containing adhesive used for fixing the active element on the oscillating element can be prevented.
However, the aforementioned oscillator having two chambers is disadvantageous in terms of costs. That is, such oscillator is prepared by: first, mounting an oscillating element in one of the two chambers and sealing the corresponding opening of the chamber after frequency adjustments have been made; and then, mounting the active element in the other chamber and writing temperature compensation data to the active element. If the active element is damaged at the time of being mounted or at the time of writing the temperature compensation data, not only the active element but also the oscillating element must be disposed of together with the container. Hence, this type of oscillator has been costly.
That is, if the active element is damaged, one may suggest that only the active element be removed from the other chamber of the container and replaced with a new one. However, in actuality, the active element is fixed by a resin-containing adhesive, so that the active element is not easy to remove, thus ending up in damaging also the container in some cases.